Possibilities
by SimpleGreyWolf
Summary: AU! What if in exchange for Elizabeth, Keller didn't only demand the treasure but also asked Neal to trade himself for El? And he was asked to keep quiet about it? What happens then? The story is from 3x11 and afterwards! Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **AN: I have had this idea in my head for around 3 years and I finally decided to go through with it and give it a shot! I hope you guys like it and I'd always appreciate some feedback! Also please note that English is my second language. Even though I have spoken it for years, I can still make mistakes from time to time. We are all humans and no one is perfect! I apologize in advance for any errors!**

Prompt: What if in exchange for Elizabeth, Keller didn't only demand the treasure but also asked Neal to trade himself for El? And he was asked to keep quiet about it? What happens then? Obviously to make this happen some changes have been done to the script and events from Episode 3x11. I also cannot remember all the details clearly and if Neal had his anklet on in that episode or not but let us go with the fact that it was on him.

Happy reading! Please leave a review!

 **Chapter 1: Possibilities**

"Neal?" questioned Peter as he answered his phone.

"Disappointed?" replied the person on the other end

"El." sighed Peter in relief.

"She's okay?" questioned Mozzie hurriedly

"I'm safe." said Elizabeth after hearing their conversation from her end.

"Oh, thank God." said Peter.

"They caught the guy holding me. Are you all right?" questioned Elizabeth urgently.

"I am now." replied Peter happily. "Where are you?"

"Uh, 23rd and 3rd. they're taking me home." answered El.

"I am on my way, I'll see you soon hon." replied Peter as he started to make his way to the already hot-wired car, thanks to Moz.

"I'll send Diana and Jones to back Neal up and to take Keller in, send them the fastest route possible." said Peter to Mozzie as before he drove away.

"Will do Suit. Say hi to Mrs. Suit for me!" answered Mozzie to the fleeing car.

Getting to the scene where Neal is supposed to be with Keller; Diana, Jones and Moz found nothing except Neal's tracking anklet, some of the stolen artifacts from the missing treasure as well as some dried blood. Sharing a quick worried glance amongst each others, "Jones call Peter, no wait call Hughes and tell him he needs to get here stat along with a CSU team." Says Diana while trying to stay calm. "NOW!" she adds when Jones still hasn't done anything.

"W-we n-need to call the Suit! He has to know about Neal! It is his fault that Neal isn't here!" says Mozzie to Diana.

"Don't. He just got his wife back, let him have this moment. Moreover, Peter is still angry with Neal seeing it was his fault in the first place that they got into this mess. Plus we can handle it for now. Neal isn't stupid. He knows Keller well enough to handle himself for the time being." replies Diana while trying to keep Mozzie calm.

10 minutes later, the place was crawling with the CSU teams, NYPD officers and FBI agents. Looking around him, Jones cursed silently when he realized that the little guy has disappeared. Knowing his paranoia and constant avoidance of any kind of law enforcement he half expected this to happen. However just to be on the safe side he made a quick call to Peter.

"Hey Peter how are you and Elizabeth doing?" he said as a form of greeting when Peter picked up.

"We are doing well; shaken up but happy to be together again. Do you need anything Jones?" asked Peter.

"Uh, I was wondering if the little guy dropped in for a visit. He said he wanted to check in on Elizabeth but was scared because of all of the law enforcement officers that would be around your place. You know how he is." Lied Jones hastily, trying not reveal anything about the Neal situation.

"Yeah I do. He hasn't showed up yet and I doubt he will. At least not until the dust settles." answered Peter.

"Well have a goodnight then Peter." said Jones, not wanting to stay on the phone with him incase he detects his nervous tone and starts grilling him about it.

"I won't be in for the next 2-3 days Jones. I already cleared it with Hughes. Can you guys handle Neal until I get back? Hughes will tell you what to do. I don't want to leave El right now. I can't." asks Peter quietly.

"Yeah sure boss, we got you covered." replied Jones while looking across his shoulder at Hughes and Diana, who looked in a heated discussion.

"What have we got?" asked Jones as he walked back to his co-worker and boss.

Looking worriedly at the blood a few feet away, "CSU got a positive match." said Diana grimly.

"And?" pressed Jones.

"It's Neal's" replied Hughes.

"What's our working theory?" questioned Jones after taking a full minute to process the information that was thrown in his face.

"It's a lot of blood. Caffrey is injured, that's for sure. He could be shot or stabbed. maybe even both. we don't know. However, we are going with the possibility that while in his fight with Keller, he got injured and Keller saw an opening to grab him for a possible heist where he needs someone with Caffrey's skills. It could have been his plan all along." said Hughes quietly.

"Or he just saw the opportunity and took it. I say Caffrey is on the run." voiced in Special Agent Brandon Clark, who always had it out for Neal.

"We are considering all of our options agent." said Hughes in a dismissive, shut-the-hell-up tone. Motioning for Diana and Jones to follow him to a more private area where no one can hear them, Hughes continued:

"There are many people who always thought that Caffrey doesn't deserve the deal we made with him and I can guarantee you that the DOJ will order us to look for him as a fugitive, not as someone who has been kidnapped and we will do what they want. However, it will be just a front. Caffrey is a member of our team. He is one of us no matter what. I need you two to keep looking into this from all angles possible and report back to me. We are keeping Burke out of this. In order for this to slide and not look suspicious, he needs to think that Caffrey is on the run too as everything he does from this point on will be questioned and he will be investigated. Understood?"

"Yes sir" replied Jones and Diana calmly.

"Good. Now get to work." said Hughes, satisfied with their response.

AN: I know it's a short one but please tell me if I should continue! It is my first fanfic ever so cut me some slack people! Anyways, thoughts? Ideas? Feedback? Please review it would seriously make my day!


	2. Chapter 2: Consciousness and Paranoia

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

 **AN: I am in a very good mood! 2 chapters in 1 day! I hope you guys enjoy and thank you for the feedback and reviews! As always they are always welcome! Happy reading!**

Chapter 2: Consciousness and Paranoia

12 hours had passed and still no sign of either Caffrey or Keller. If Neal doesn't magically appear out of thin air in the next 36 hours, he would officially be classified as a fugitive. It was around 4AM so with a frustrated sigh Hughes looked at his worn out agents and said, "go home people. We can't do much to help Caffrey if we are dead on our feet. Let's regroup at 11AM." While checking for his keys. "It's just frustrating how quickly Keller grabbed him and went underground." Said Jones as he ran a hand over his face in annoyance.

"I know. Remember 11AM" replied Hughes as he walked out of the conference room.

"Do you think we can find him?" asked Jones after a while.

"I don't know. I sure hope so. It is Neal after all, if he wants to be found he will do his best to let that happen. But I can't help but think what if he is too hurt to leave a trail behind? What if he is already… you know? And I am pretty sure even if we fill Peter in later on; he'd say Neal ran because he didn't want to face the consequences of his actions. You know how Peter gets when Elizabeth is involved; no matter who you are, if you hurt her he could hold a grudge that's the size of the universe against you." answered Diana as she was looking out of the window at the bustling street of the city.

"Di, you cannot think that way. Neal doesn't give up easily. Its Caffrey we are talking about remember? I know Peter and I agree with you completely and that's why it is up to the three of us to prove everybody else wrong and bring Neal back. Safely." Said Jones while squeezing Diana's shoulder in reassurance. "Come on, let's catch an hour or two of sleep before we continue our search." He continued, handing her the jacket that was thrown hastily three chairs away.

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Meanwhile, the soon to be wanted man regained consciousness to find himself bound and in a dark place that was…moving? He didn't have much room to move let alone stretch. Trying to recall how he ended up wherever he currently is, Neal took a moment to himself. The treasure. Elizabeth. His fight with Keller. Then nothing. Neal kept drawing up blank whenever he thought of what happened after that. Deducing that with his current bound state and restraint, Keller kidnapped him. He tried to rub his ankles together, in hopes of the anklet chaffing his other ankle. It took him a while to do that, as he had to keep rubbing to rip off the tape that kept his ankles bound. He soon discovered that he has been right all along. He's been kidnapped and his anklet is missing. "Well this day keeps getting better," thought Neal sarcastically. "FBI thinks I am on the run and Keller is probably gonna kill me". It was after trying to push the top of the box that he's in with his feet in order to get out, that he registered the pain in his abdomen and his right shoulder. The pain was bad enough that it knocked him back into unconsciousness.

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Dante Haversham, more commonly known as Mozzie, never thought that he would willingly enter the FBI HQ more than 2 times in his life. And yet here he was, looking through the glass doors and into the cubicles of the White Collar division that is located on the 21st floor. Not wanting to go in any further, he hoped that Diana or Jones could see him from their cubicle and come out so Mozzie could lecture them about the importance of answering their cellphones, especially after he spent the night blowing them up with a missed call after the other. He needed answers regarding his friend's missing case, and he needed them fast.

Diana Berrigan was not having a good day, or night. As the clock kept ticking, so did Neal's time limit. Despite the way they usually acted around each other, she had grown fond of the ex-conman and considered him a close friend and part of her extended family here at the FBI. She couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to him. And that is why at 6:45AM she was stepping off the elevator and onto the 21st floor, hoping to get some sort of lead that will help them find the missing ex-conman.

Deep in thought, she didn't notice the little guy standing frozen in front of the glass doors. "Hey! What are you-" she started but never got to finish as she realized who it was that she bumped into.

"Mozzie? What are you doing here?" she asked the frozen guy.

"Uh. Lady Suit, how convenient. I am here to see you. I called you and Jones all night yesterday and you never replied, I have a very bad feeling about this." Said Mozzie urgently after snapping from his own world.

Sighing, the agent looked softly at him as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into one of the back offices that they had. "Listen Moz and listen well. Neal is missing and you already know that. We know that Keller most likely took him and we are doing our best to play this from every angle and to bring him home. However, if we don't do this in the approximately 32 hours then Neal is considered a fugitive and will have every law enforcement officer looking after him. The best way to help him is by trying to get in touch with your underground friends and see if there's any chatter about Keller or Neal." She said calmly, in hopes of having Mozzie cooperate with them, the more people out there looking for Neal, the better. "Also with Peter and Neal's recent… development… we are keeping the Burkes out of it." She added as an afterthought.

"I will do everything I can to help. Please keep me in the loop Lady Suit. I know the Suit is probably still upset with Neal and won't think logically so wise decision on your end." Answered Mozzie hastily as he was already stepping onto the elevator. "Good luck." Added Diana while shaking her head with a slight smile at the guy's typical antics.

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Regaining consciousness, Neal slowly became aware of his surrounding. "Well, well, well, sleeping beauty awakens at last." Said an awfully familiar voice.

"Keller?" said Neal hoarsely while blinking to adjust his eyes to the sudden light.

"One and only." Replied Keller

"What do you want from me? You got what you wanted, you have the treasure, why do you need me?" countered Neal.

"I need you to do one last thing for me, before I decide to let you go or kill you." Answered Keller casually.

"Oh yeah? And what is it that you need? Where am I anyways?" questioned Neal, trying to get any answer out his nemesis.

"A forgery. A Raphael to be exact. I know how much you love him and how good you are at painting and making forgeries. I tried with two other artists but they couldn't do it right so I had to have you do it. Plus I need you to pull the job to switch it out." Answered Keller with his overly arrogant tone.

"Why would I ever help you? And you never answered me. Where am I?" asked Neal again.

"Because if you don't Caffrey, those you care about will die, slowly and painfully. I hear a certain June Ellington is a very nice and welcoming lady. Or better yet, Sara Ellis is one of the best you can get. Don't you agree?" Asked Keller with a huge smirk on his face. "I am just getting started."

"Don't you dare hurt them, any of them. Not June, Sara, Diana, Jones, Mozzie, Peter or Elizabeth. I'll do whatever you want just keep them out of it." Said Neal hurriedly; trying to keep those he cares about safe.

"I can do that. For now. And to answer your previous question, we are on private jet, headed to D.C. you are gonna forge Raphael's Saint George and then help me switch it out from the National Gallery of Art. Or else Neal…"


	3. Chapter 3: The Truth and Pain meds

**AN: thank you for your reviews people! They seriously made my day! I hope that you guys know that every suggestion you make is taken into consideration! Please R &R in order to help me make the story into a better one (I hope). Also as I mentioned earlier English isn't my first language so I apologize for any errors and mistakes. I am assuming that the flight duration from NYC to Washington D.C. is around an hour or so? At least that is what came up when I Googled it and that is what I used, please correct me if I am mistaken! Thank you and happy reading!**

Chapter 3: The Truth and Pain meds

They have already hit the 24-hour mark on Neal's disappearance/kidnapping and chances usually went down the hill if the missing person hasn't been found by then. Jones and Diana were both agitated and on the edge of their seats as the next 8 hours can determine Neal's future. Diana did a double take on whatever was on her screen and blue file and her eyes lit up with excitement.

"What's wrong? You got something?" asked Jones quickly after seeing her excited expression.

"I th-" Diana started but never got to finish her sentence as she saw the person walking through the glass doors. "Uh, what is Peter doing here?"

"What?!" exclaimed Jones while turning around in his chair to verify what Diana is seeing.

"We need to tell Hughes. Now." He continued as Diana grabbed the blue file and followed him out of the conference room and into Hughes' office.

"Sir, Peter is here." Said Jones as soon as Diana closed the door behind her.

"I had a feeling he might show up." Replied Hughes tiredly.

"What do we do? Do we fill him in?" asked Diana who wanted to fill in her boss so badly.

"Let me talk to him and see how he is processing everything first." Said Hughes as he eyed Peter who was standing in front of Caffrey's cubicle.

"Sir, we also might have something." Added Diana before giving Hughes the chance to dismiss them.

"Give me 10 minutes and then I will find you." Replied Hughes as Peter was walking up the stairs, heading to where they are right now. "Now go."

"Yes sir." They answered simultaneously while walking out of the office and taking a left, heading to the conference room to continue their hunt for the ex-conman.

"Hey Peter." Said Diana in a form of greetings as they passed him. "Diana, hey. Have you seen Neal today?" asked Peter.

"Um, I think he went for a coffee run. Do you need anything?" she replied calmly, trying not to play with her hair; a huge tell that she is nervous.

"No thanks. I need to talk to Hughes, see you in a bit." Said Peter while continuing his way to his boss's office.

"Good morning sir." Said Peter in a form of greetings after being given the go ahead to enter the office.

"Peter. Come on in and close the door. I thought you were taking some time off to spend it with Elizabeth." Said Hughes while gesturing for his agent to walk further into his office.

"Well, Elizabeth wanted everything to go back to normal so she decided to get a late start to her morning. Plus you know me sir, I can't sit at home, doing nothing when there are cases to solve." Responded Peter while silently praying that Hughes won't grill him anymore.

"You know it is always good to have you back Burke, but I have to ask. Will you be okay working with Caffrey again? I know that won't be easy…" continued Hughes.

"Yes sir. I am perfectly fine with it. It took me a while to calm down and think about it logically. We all make a mistake one way or another along the way, that's who we are. I will also be the one to admit that Neal makes them more often than normal people but he needs this. A place where he can turn to and someone to keep him on the straight and narrow. Caffrey has changed. The old Neal wouldn't have admitted to his mistakes or done much to help, but this time he did. He has made a life for himself here. I believe in him and I trust him." Peter said softly while their earlier conversation came to his mind.

" _Why didn't you leave?" asked Peter._

" _You… Elizabeth, Sara, the view from that porch, getting off the elevator Monday morning… I have a life here," answered Neal sincerely._

The office was silent for a minute while Hughes was weighing his options in his head, which made Peter slightly nervous.

"I know you Burke and I know that Caffrey trusts you with his life. You have changed him for the better and we can all vouch for that," replied Hughes as he opened his office door and did the double finger point to both Diana and Jones. "That is why I, no we, need to tell you something." He continued as Diana and Jones came into his office while closing the door behind them.

"Sir. Peter." They nodded in a form of greetings. Again.

"Diana you said you had something? Fill us in," said Hughes while gesturing to the room's occupants, ignoring Peter's confused expression.

"As most of us already know. Neal Caffrey's anklet was cut 24 hours ago, while we were searching for Mathew Keller and just when we secured Elizabeth Burke." Started Diana while eyeing Peter's wide-eyed expression. He started to say something as his faced morphed into a worried, angry expression but Diana continued.

"Getting to the scene where Neal and Keller were supposed to be, we found Neal's already cut anklet and some blood, a lot of blood." As she passed some of the crime scene photos to Peter.

"CSU did a quick test to see who's blood it was and… it was Neal's." said Diana softly.

"Now as I was trying to track Neal and find a clue that might help us find him, or Keller for that matter, I got this e-mail." Continued Diana as she walked out of Hughes's office and into the conference room that became their main workstation. She pulled up her e-mail account onto the big TV screen and clicked on the first message in her inbox that was from a: DANTE HAVERSHAM with a subject that read: URGENT! OPEN SOON LADY SUIT!

She opened the attached audio file and pressed play.

" _Hello Caffrey, it's been a while." Vibrated Keller's arrogant voice through the speakers._

" _Keller, where is Elizabeth? Whatever you need just let her go. I will get you anything." Came Neal's voice, getting straight to the point._

" _Now, now Neal, not so fast. You know I will let her go, but first let me enjoy my game. Eventually, when I get what I want, she will be free." Answered Keller._

 _Neal cursed under his breath and then said, "What is it that you want Keller? We can do this so no one gets hurt, it doesn't have to be this way." Continued Neal._

" _Oh but it has to. This is the only way that you can cooperate with me Caffrey." Said Keller. "Meet me at the storage units located on Main Street. The ones near the docks, you should remember where that is so I won't be very specific, and after all you almost died the last time we were there remember?"_

" _I will only meet you there if you let Elizabeth Burke go Keller, those are my terms." Replied Neal in a no-nonsense tone, ignoring Keller's comment about his near-death experience._

" _Fine. You have 1 hour Caffrey, one hour. Oh and need I remind you, no cops, feds or anything, oh and no Mozzie too. See you then." Said Keller as he ended the call._

"Did you check the location?" asked Peter, breaking the shocked silence that engulfed the room, with his mind working 1000 miles an hour.

"Yes, that was around the same location where we found Caffrey's anklet and the blood." Replied Jones, speaking up for the first time in a while.

"This is good." Said Hughes, sighing in relief.

"How is this good?! First the sociopath took my wife and now he took my partner! How is this any good to us?! Neal left with him knowing that I was upset with him, I need to find my partner and my best friend Hughes. What if I don't get the chance to find him and tell him that everything will workout in the end, that I forgave him? What if…" exclaimed Peter angrily and then trailed off, not wanting to voice what was on his mind.

"Calm down Burke, Caffrey is one tough guy. We will get to him. Now the DOJ gave us 48 hours to find Caffrey and that clock started ticking since his anklet was cut. We have around 7 hours left, if we do not find him by then, he will be considered a fugitive on the run. This proves that Caffrey didn't just run away but in fact was kidnapped. This audio file helps us!" explained Hughes.

Walking out of the conference room with the other three agents trailing behind him, Hughes clapped his hands in order to get everybody's attention. "Alright listen up people! We have just received some information that one Mathew Keller has in fact kidnapped Neal Caffrey. I want eyes and ears on the streets and in the air and I need each and every one of you searching for them. Do not disregard any piece of information that you come across. Anything is crucial to finding them from this moment onwards! Now everybody get to work!"

WCWCWCWCWC

"Wake up Caffrey." Said one of Keller's goons, nudging Neal Caffrey awake.

"We got to make sure you don't die on us, at least not yet. Need you functioning in order to do that forgery and that is why I have pleasure of bandaging you up." The goon continued. "After that you are coming with me as we are going to land soon."

"Why did it take so long to get to D.C.? It's around an hour or so from NYC." Questioned Neal groggily, trying to get as many answers as he could.

"We took many detours to insure that there won't be any people waiting for us. Not that it is any of your business." Answered the big guy roughly.

20 minutes later, the big guy finished his lousy job to stop Neal's bleeding. "Do not worry Caffrey, we have a doctor just for you waiting to stitch you up once we get to the warehouse." Said the big guy grinning evilly. Neal who was in an immense amount of pain, with no painkillers managed to utter, "how come you know my name but I don't know yours?" "Hmm, Keller said you were always a smartass Caffrey but I didn't believe him, until now, call me John." Replied the big guy, who is now known as John as he hoisted a badly injured Neal from his injured shoulder and pulled him up a flight of stairs to a seat in the back of the plane, not bothering to buckle him in. "Stay still buddy, we have 35 more minutes to go." He said as he patted Neal on his injured abdomen, making the ex-fugitive scream in agony.


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise Visits

**AN: I had so much fun writing this chapter. Though I have one question: how old is Neal in general? I tried to figure it out and ask around but I haven't gotten a clear range anywhere (which is bad for me as a fan but….). anyways, I went with him being around 29-30 in the story. Sorry for any confusions. Please know that as my summer semester is coming to an end, I will only be able to update once a week, (probably every Thursday or Friday). Hopefully, I will be able to do 2-3 chapters/week once school is over (which is around June 20** **th** **). I am VERY SORRY FOR THAT! However, I wanted to take a moment and thank you all for your awesome reviews as they make my day everyday and encourage me to keep writing, thank you guys. I also wanted to send a special thank you to** _ **Pherenike 26**_ **for the continuous awesome reviews from day one. Thank you.**

 **Hope you enjoy reading this chapter and please leave a review!**

Chapter 4: Surprise Visits

Peter Burke shot up in his seat behind his desk still groggy from his unplanned nap and feeling disoriented. It took him a minute to gather where he was at three in the morning. A quick glance at the clock in his office told him that his partner and best friend has been missing for approximately 45 hours. Peter was sent home at around 10PM earlier that night. However, after sharing a late meal/snack with his wife, who knew him well enough and was as worried as he was about the missing man, managed to reassure him that it was alright to head back to his office and work on finding his partner. The FBI agent ran his hand down his face in frustration as he realized that instead of searching for his best friend, _his brother_ _ **,**_ he fell asleep and hadn't made much progress. Checking his phone for any messages from El or Mozzie, he was even more frustrated (if that was even possible) as he found none. _'Where are you Neal?'_ thought the agent to himself in the dimly lit office.

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Elizabeth Burke had had a restless and sleepless night, as she was worried about one FBI agent and one missing blue-eyed young man. Sighing to herself, she pushed the covers off of her and decided to get an early start to her day to prevent her thoughts from going to the million worst-case scenarios she had managed to cook up the previous day. _'Be optimistic Elizabeth! Neal is just fine'_ she repeated in her head as she touched up on her make-up before heading down the stairs to get her much needed cup of coffee. It was then that she heard insistent knocking on her front door. Frowning at whoever is knocking on their door at 6AM, she rushed down the stairs to greet her surprise visitor.

"Mozzie! What are you doing here?" she asked as her guarded expression relaxed into one of surprise.

"Mrs. Suit. I hope you are doing well today." Said the little guy as he stepped further into the house.

"Yes, thank you for asking. However, I would be much better once Neal is safe and sound, here with us." She replied as she started the coffee machine. "Any news?" she continued while looking at the room's other occupant with the corner of her eye.

"No news yet." Answered Mozzie with a dark, sad expression.

"They will find him Moz." Elizabeth said in a form of reassurance while she debated internally if she was reassuring him or herself.

Silence fell between them as the coffee machine beeped, signaling that their drinks are ready. Quietly, while each of them is lost in their own thoughts, they drank their drinks, cleaned up and headed for the door, ready to tackle the day as the promise of staying in touch with each other was made with no words.

"Be careful Mrs. Suit" was the only thing Mozzie said as he turned around the corner, disappearing in the crowd.

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In a windowless room, in an abandoned warehouse, sat the missing FBI consultant with freshly cleaned and bandaged injuries, as well as gun to his head and a clear white canvas in front of him. "Get started." Growled John, using his gun to gesture at the clean paintbrushes. "We are on a time limit here." He continued.

"What?" exclaimed the kidnapped man; "no one ever told me anything about a time limit. If you want me to do a forgery for you I am going to need to do it at my own pace!" argued Neal.

"If you don't get started now, you won't finish it on time. Remember what we said about you not following orders Caffrey?" said Keller as he walked through the locked door. "You don't want us to start with your pretty landlady do you?" asked the blue-collar criminal. "Now get to work." He snapped, not waiting for an answer from the ex-white collar criminal. Hesitantly, the threatened young man picked up one of the brushes in front of him and started mixing the needed colors and muttered to himself "I hope you don't hold me accountable for this forgery Peter," before closing his eyes to try and relax. With a deep breath, the talented artist got to work.

WCWCWCWCWC

"Did you check his bank account? Any recent activities there?" questioned Peter, hoping to get a "yes there was some unusually activity" or a "sir, we got something" from Diana or any other agent for that matter.

"Nothing new Peter. I do not know what we are searching for anymore. Keller and his crew are way ahead of us and we don't even know where to look! How will we find Neal if we don't have anything?!" exclaimed the tough female agent in anger, irritation and worry. "You do know that if we do not find him and I mean soon, we are going to get orders from HQ to stop right? He is a criminal and just a consultant in their eyes, not as important as an FBI agent. They wouldn't want to waste their resources on someone like Neal." Continued Diana as she voiced everybody's fears. Sensing that she might need to talk to Peter privately, everybody went on a quick break except for Jones, who stayed behind to make sure the things between the two don't take a weird, bad turn as they are all running on very low amounts of sleep and under a lot of stress. "Even if the Bureau orders me to stop looking, I won't stop. Neal is my partner, my best friend and my… is like a little brother to me Di. He has always had my back and has always trusted me. I can't let him down. I won't." replied Peter. "We both know that boss," said Diana as she glanced quickly at Jones before looking Peter dead in the eyes and continued, "that is why we want in."

"Are you sure? If someone finds out that we might be looking into Neal's disappearance after we were told to let it go, our careers could be over. I won't be able to help you or pull any strings." Replied Peter, trying to emphasize the danger of the path that they were most likely going to take, sooner or later.

"Yes sir. Neal has done a lot for us the past 3 and a half years. Despite his past actions and his previous lifestyle, Caffrey deserves justice, every one of us does. I am a hundred percent sure that if our situations were reversed, Caffrey would say and do the same thing." Spoke up Jones for the first time since they started this conversation. Peter eyed his best agents quietly, giving them a chance to back out before saying. "Alright, we will do our best and won't stop until we find Neal. For now, the Bureau is still backing us up on everything we do so we use those back ups and resources to our full advantages. Let's take 5 before we continue." He ended with a small smile.

"You got it boss." Replied Diana and Jones as they went to refill their empty coffee mugs.

Alone with his thoughts for once, Peter tried to sort out the chaos in his head while gazing at the chaos that was happening downstairs. Everybody wanted to find Keller in order to find Neal. Agents were running around the offices and cubicles with files and papers in hopes of someone finding any sort of clue that will get them out of square one. Peter's eyes wondered to Neal's vacant cubicle, which remained untouched, just the way the ex-conman left it when he left the office the day before his kidnapping. _'Please hang on Neal. I will find you, I promise you that'_.

WCWCWCWCWC

Neal needed a break. His wrists were numb from painting. His shoulder was throbbing so badly. His legs, abdomen and back were stiff an burning from the stupid stool and posture that he has been in for the past 4 to 5 hours. "Bathroom break John," he said while he dropped his paintbrush into the empty plastic cup that held the dirty paintbrushes.

"Do you have to?" asked the big guy. Neal raised his eyebrow in a _do-you-really-have-to-ask_ sort of expression. "Fine. I suppose it is about time you took a break. It also wouldn't harm to put some food into you, maybe that will make you work a bit faster." Ranted the big bald guy more to himself than to Neal. Neal rolled his eyes in amusement. With a gun in each hand, (which after seeing Neal's slightly amused expression at the amount of weapons he was carrying John said "I am not taking any chances with you Neal Caffrey so you better watch yourself and behave"), John lead a cuffed artist and forger extraordinaire to the bathroom that was directly across from the room they were in. Neal managed to get a quick glance at his surroundings thanks to his field trip to the bathroom. He quickly made deductions that if he had any chances of escape they are going to have to be through the room he was in or the bathroom. Escape from either would be kind of impossible as the only way in and/or out was through the door where at least 4 other goons were standing guard. Neal had to think of another way out. And he had to think fast. Suddenly, there was loud banging on the door while John said, "break time is over Caffrey! Back to work!" sighing, Neal slipped out of the bathroom before he had the chance of thinking of another way out. John led him back to the room where the doctor from before changed his bleeding bandages before being forced to continue. An hour later, Neal felt John stiffen in posture as the door opened and in slipped a person he never thought he would see again. "Well hello Neal…"


End file.
